Camp Mystic girl describes surviving Texas floods

Summary

Summary of "Here's the Scoop" Podcast Episode: Camp Mystic Girl Describes Surviving Texas Floods

Release Date: July 8, 2025
Host: Yasmin Vossoughian
Podcast: Here's the Scoop by NBC News

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1. Introduction to the Texas Flood Catastrophe

In this emotionally charged episode, Yasmin Vossoughian delves into the devastating floods that have struck Central Texas, particularly focusing on the tragedy at Camp Mystic. The death toll from the floods has tragically surpassed 100 individuals, with bodies being discovered as far as 20 miles from their initial locations swept by the relentless floodwaters. Yasmin sets the stage by highlighting the grief permeating tight-knit communities and the relentless efforts of rescue teams amid fading hope.

Yasmin Vossoughian (00:34):
"In these tight-knit communities, grief is everywhere, for children, for friends, for neighbors. Five days out and hope is fleeting."

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2. Survivor Story: Lucy and Her Mother

The heart of the episode centers around an interview with Lucy, a 10-year-old survivor of the Camp Mystic floods, and her mother. Hosted by co-host Morgan Chesky, who is a resident of Kerrville, Texas, the conversation offers a poignant glimpse into the harrowing experience endured by Lucy and her family.

Morgan Chesky (01:42):
"Earlier today, I did have a chance to speak with Win Kennedy and her daughter Lucy. Now, Lucy's only 10 years old. She survived the flooding at Camp Mystic."

Lucy’s Experience at Camp Mystic:

Lucy's recounting begins with the onset of the flood on the Fourth of July. She describes waking up to ominous thunder and a gut feeling of impending disaster. Despite initial reassurances from counselors that it was merely light rain, the situation swiftly escalated, forcing evacuations and eventual rescue by helicopter.

Lucy (03:02):
"I woke up to, like, really loud thunder, and I couldn't fall back asleep because, like, I just had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen."

Evacuation Process:

The evacuation was chaotic and frightening. Lucy details the harrowing moments of moving to the second floor of rec hall, waiting until sunrise, and finally being airlifted to safety. The emotional toll is evident as she reflects on witnessing her friend Greta being swept away.

Lucy (05:57):
"It was super pretty, but it was also not pretty at the same time. Cause, like, everything looked like, flooded and broken. So it was also, like, kind of sad."

Reunion and Aftermath:

Upon rescue, Lucy was reunited with her mother, enveloped in blankets and holding a teddy bear provided by volunteers. The emotional reunion underscores the relief and lingering sorrow of the ordeal.

E's Mother (07:57):
"When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket and had a teddy bear some volunteers gave all the girls when they got off. And we just held each other tight and I hold her all night, just. Just so grateful to God, you know."

Reflection and Support:

Both Lucy and her mother express their ongoing grief for those still missing and the collective effort to support each other during this unimaginable time.

Lucy (09:02):
"I just like pray that their daughters are okay and like if like they're in like heaven, just that they're like they're watching over their families."

E's Mother (09:19):
"I think that is beautiful."

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3. Rescue Efforts: Huntley Dantzler's Leadership

Transitioning from personal stories, Yasmin introduces Huntley Dantzler, a local construction business owner who has taken a leading role in organizing volunteer rescue efforts. Huntley's firsthand experience and dedication provide insight into the ongoing search operations.

Yasmin Vossoughian (11:31):
"At this point, it's still unclear how many people they're even looking for. Rescuers are digging through children's clothes and kayaks, combing the area for any survivors, Huntley Dantzler among them."

Huntley Dantzler on Day One:

Huntley recounts the immediate response following the flood, rallying friends and volunteers to commence search and rescue missions despite personal risks.

Huntley Dantzler (12:03):
"I had no choice. I had to implement myself into being there and what I could do to help the people that were around me."

Organizing Volunteers:

The scale of volunteer involvement grew rapidly, with Huntley coordinating over 165 individuals within the first few days. He emphasizes the camaraderie and relentless determination driving the search efforts.

Huntley Dantzler (12:56):
"I know just by looking at the footprints that the people that are out there looking, they're doing every single possible thing that they can to find someone."

Challenges Faced:

Huntley discusses the daunting conditions faced by rescuers, including treacherous mudslides and extreme heat, highlighting the physical and emotional toll of the mission.

Huntley Dantzler (14:02):
"There’s so much mud that we slide everywhere we go. And then now we're fighting the heat today. It's getting worse."

Commitment to Recovery:

Beyond immediate rescue operations, Huntley expresses his commitment to rebuilding the community, underscoring the long-term impact of the floods.

Huntley Dantzler (14:30):
"When that's done over with, I will be a part of the community building back all the way from the beginning all the way to the end."

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4. Ongoing Search and Community Resilience

The episode highlights the continuous efforts despite the challenges, emphasizing the resilience and unity of the Central Texas communities. Volunteers like Huntley remain steadfast in their mission, offering hope amidst devastation.

Yasmin Vossoughian (14:56):
"Huntley Dantzler, thank you so much for the work that you're continuing to do down there and for sharing a little bit of your time with us. We are really appreciative."

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5. Conclusion

Yasmin wraps up the episode by acknowledging the ongoing nature of the disaster response and the collective spirit of those affected. The episode serves as a testament to human resilience and the profound impact of community support in the face of natural calamities.

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Key Takeaways:

• Scale of Devastation: Over 100 lives lost with many still missing in the Central Texas floods.
• Personal Stories: Lucy's survival story highlights the human aspect of the tragedy.
• Community Effort: Huntley Dantzler's leadership exemplifies the significant volunteer involvement in rescue operations.
• Resilience and Hope: Despite overwhelming loss, the community remains united in search and recovery efforts.

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Notable Quotes:

• Yasmin Vossoughian (00:34):
  "In these tight-knit communities, grief is everywhere, for children, for friends, for neighbors."

• Lucy (05:57):
  "It was super pretty, but it was also not pretty at the same time... kind of sad."

• Huntley Dantzler (12:56):
  "They're doing every single possible thing that they can to find someone."

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This episode of "Here's the Scoop" powerfully captures the tragic events of the Texas floods through personal narratives and on-the-ground reporting, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of the disaster's impact and the heroic efforts undertaken to mitigate it.

Transcript

[Charles]

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[Yasmin Vesugian]

Hey, everybody. Yasmin Vesugian here for here's the scoop from NBC News. It is another busy news day. Measles cases in the US Are at their highest point in decades. And we have a new warning about potential side effects from those popular weight loss drugs. But first, we want to turn to the devastation in Central Texas. The death toll has now surpassed 100 people. NBC has reported on bodies being found upwards of 20 miles away from where they were first swept away by floodwaters. In these tight knit communities, grief is everywhere, for children, for friends, for neighbors. Five days out and hope is fleeting. Rescue teams are combing through the wreckage hoping for miracles. Instead, they're finding fragments of lives with once lived in a little bit. I'm going to speak with one of those first responders, a local volunteer rallying his community to help with rescue and recovery. As you heard in yesterday's episode, our co host Morgan Chesky calls Kerrville, Texas home and mourns alongside his community. Morgan just spoke with a mother and daughter sharing their story of survival. Hey, Morgan, how you holding up?

[Morgan Chesky]

Hey. Yes, I definitely want to thank you and all our colleagues for checking in on me and my family over the last few days or so. The community, the kindness has meant so much during such an unimaginable time here. I'm hanging in, my family's hanging in. But it's incredibly rough for so many people here and it's still hard to fully wrap our heads around what happened. Earlier today. I did have a chance to speak with Win Kennedy and her daughter Lucy. Now, Lucy's only 10 years old. She survived the flooding at Camp Mystic. She was airlifted from the grounds, her very first helicopter ride. She watched her friend Greta get swept away. And of course, that's a moment that no child should ever have to endure and one I can't stop thinking about. I should add that that's such a sensitive topic. We never ask Lucy to really share that painful memory. And during our interview with Lucy and her mom, you might hear beeping trucks and helicopters flying over. It's just a good reminder that this is still very much an active scene.

[Lucy]

What's your first Memory.

[E's Mother]

Friday morning, my first memory is waking up to a phone call from my husband, John, who had my son Walker. We were at different places just saying that the police just knocked on the door, and he just said, our house is about to flood. The river is to our back patio, and it's coming in waves.

[Lucy]

Lucy, you're at camp. My grandmother went to Camp Mystic.

[E's Mother]

That's so cool. I love that.

[Lucy]

And so we've been very familiar with the camp out there. I have to ask, favorite activity at camp was what?

I kind of had, like, two.

Okay.

Horseback riding and fishing.

Lucy, what do you remember about this Fourth of July?

I just, like, remember having to get evacuated, and, like, the water kept rising.

I apologize. I've never actually been in a cabin there. So can you kind of explain to those of us who have never kind of been out there, did you wake up or.

At, like, 12? I woke up to, like, really loud thunder, and I couldn't fall back asleep because, like, I just had a gut feeling that something bad was about to happen. And then around 2, everyone started to wake up, and they kept going in the bathroom and stuff. And our counselor just told us to get back in our beds because it was just a little rain. And then people from different cabins started coming to our porch and yelling, like, wake up and go direct hall because there's a flood. So we had to take a blanket, a pillow, a water bottle, and a flashlight. And then we went to rec hall. And then we had to go on the second floor because it was coming.

In the water was coming in the bottom of the recall.

Yes.

So you get to the second floor and then what?

Then we just had to wait there till the sun rose.

When the sun came up. Then what?

Then we all had to, like, get in a single file line. And then we had to go to the new camp because the new camp, like, the flood didn't hit the new camp.

It was on high ground.

Yeah. And so we got to the new camp, and then we had to wait there for, like, five hours, and we got to eat some pizza since we had, like, no food or breakfast.

After you ate the pizza, Lucy, what happened?

So we just had to sit there and, like, draw and talk to each other, and then we had to get, like, checked off. And then we had to wait for, like, a helicopter.

A helicopter.

It was, like, all flooded, so you couldn't get out.

[Huntley Dantzler]

Wow.

[Lucy]

So we had to evacuate on helicopters. And they dropped us off at the Ingram High School. And then we took a bus to the elementary school, and we got to, like, eat, like, more food.

Were you sitting next to your bunk mates?

Like, half of our cabin was on a different helicopter and then there were like, girls from different cabins. So, yeah, we were just like all squished together.

And what was that like when it took off and you looked down and you could see everything?

It was super pretty, but it was also not pretty at the same time.

Not pretty how?

Cause, like, everything looked like, flooded and broken. So it was also, like, kind of sad.

When did you first find out about what was happening?

[E's Mother]

Well, parents were all on a text thread, typically with the other moms of the girls in each cabin. So people were texting about it and going to camp forever. But also, a couple summers ago, we lived at mystic and I worked there. I felt like she was in the safest place she could be because of the extensive flood evacuation plans that they trained us all in. So this is just unprecedented. The water never got near any of those cabins ever before when we would have a little flooding. But so the moms were kind of panicking and I just thought, they're in great hands. And they were in great hands. Again, nobody could have predicted this.

[Lucy]

You knew Lucy was on the riverside of camp?

[E's Mother]

I did. And so at one point, I'm fortunate because I have worked there and have contacts that are closed. I was able to get confirmation pretty early.

[Lucy]

How would you describe that four hour window where you didn't know how Lucy was?

[E's Mother]

I mean, just the longest four hours of my life until I knew for sure. It was agony.

[Lucy]

There were so many rumors going around early on. When you finally found out that the number missing was real, it's just devastating.

[E's Mother]

With our network of my camp friends that had their kids there, as well as family friends, I mean, all of us, all we could do is just try to reassure each other and pray. But I mean, I just. I think I was in disbelief. I just thought maybe they were just hunkered down somewhere and could you have.

[Lucy]

Ever imagined that you would be picking Lucy up from a helicopter?

[E's Mother]

No, never. When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket and had a teddy bear some volunteers gave all the girls when they got off. And we just held each other tight and I hold her all night, just. Just so grateful to God, you know.

[Lucy]

The camp, you know, the family's here. What are you telling them?

[E's Mother]

We're just all trying to lift each other up at this moment, at this time. But unfortunately, I do have loved ones that have girls that are still missing or unaccounted for and loved ones who have lost their daughters and their daughters are family to us because it's a big family and it's just heart wrenching. I just want to keep offering that love and support and Lucy, too. And you know, we're just trying to keep the spirit of mystic alive, the positive things it's done for all of us. Like you said, your grandmother was there and my mother went. My grandmother was a counselor there and like from like 38 to 41 or something.

[Lucy]

Lucy, is there anything that you would like to say to the families of the folks hurting?

I just like pray that their daughters are okay and like if like they're in like heaven, just that they're like they're watching over their families.

[E's Mother]

And it's never I, you know, when people say they're in a better place, I sometimes find that cliche. But some of the parents have said things like but they'll be forever playing at their favorite place in the world at Camp Mystic. And I think that is beautiful.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

We'll be right back.

[Charles]

Have you ever wondered what it's like to be buried in an avalanche?

[Lucy]

Weird foreign feeling of despair or how.

[Charles]

It feels to crash a skydive?

[Yasmin Vesugian]

I remember feeling my body hit the ground.

[Charles]

These are the stories you'll hear on the podcast called what was that Like True stories told by the actual person who went through it. And you'll hear actual 911 calls.

[Lucy]

911 there's a man at my back.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Door trying to get in search for.

[Charles]

What was that like on any podcast app or at what was that like dot com. I'm Josh Mankiewicz and I hope you'll join us for season four of DATELINE Missing in America. In each episode of dateline's award winning series, we will focus on one missing persons case and hear from the families, the friends and the investigators, all desperate to find them. You will want to listen closely. Maybe you could help investigators solve a mystery. Search DATELINE Missing in America to listen on Apple Podcasts.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

And we're back with Here's a scoop from NBC News. While families in Texas grieve the loss of the more than 100 people who died in the catastrophic floods, the search is still on for so many more that are still missing. At this point, it's still unclear how many people they're even looking for. Rescuers are digging through children's clothes and kayaks, combing the area for any survivors, Huntley Dantzler among them. Huntley owns a construction business in the area, but when the floodwaters hit, he decided to organize members of his Community to. To help authorities with the search. We caught him in the middle of his work in the Hill country. Hunley, thank you so much for taking the time and for joining us. How are you doing?

[Huntley Dantzler]

I'm doing good. Yeah, no problem. I'm glad to be here and glad to let y' all know what's going on here.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

I wanna be forthcoming with our listeners. Huntley, just as we have this conversation that you are outside, you're obviously in the middle of this search and rescue mission. There's a lot of overhead helicopters and a lot of things going on around you, so it's not perfect audio.

[Huntley Dantzler]

Right.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Just so everybody knows, as we're having this convers, you actually started your search and rescue effort at the camp, at the girls camp, where so many girls now have subsequently lost their lives. What was that day one like for you?

[Huntley Dantzler]

Well, I did not quite make it all the way to the camp. I got as close as I could with the resources and the people that I had where I felt safe enough to get there to that point. So, yeah, what it was like is, you know, my whole life, you know, I've been over there fishing and swimming in the river, in the Guadalupe river, and it hurt when I. When I came over the hill and saw the river. I mean, it did. And it just immediately, I had to implement myself. Had to. I had no choice. I had to implement myself into being there and what I could do to help the people that were around me. And so after that, we just started working our way down the river, trying to help everyone we could help.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Huntley, it's not just you out there. As you mentioned, there's a lot of folks out there involved in the search and rescue effort. But you've been organizing a lot of people as well, over 100 people joining your efforts over the last couple of days.

[Huntley Dantzler]

The first day, the first evening that it happened, the first, we had 17 people. Seventeen of my buddies automatically met up with me in. In less than an hour, in 45 minutes. They all drove from three different counties to meet with me. And I had 17 men that was ready to be on the ground. And the next day we had about 120 people on the next day. And then yesterday we had about 165 people. My phone is just constantly ringing with people that are trying to figure out where to go and what to do. And I'm a big game hunter and tracker. And one of the biggest things that stood out to me is as I'm searching, by tracking and seeing what the other people have done in their efforts has broke my heart. I know just by looking at the footprints that the people that are out there looking, they're doing every single possible thing that they can to find someone.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

You and your team have gone to a lot of untracked areas, areas that, that are out of reach. Walk us through what that's been like mudslides.

[Huntley Dantzler]

And those areas that we're going in, there's so much mud that we slide everywhere we go. And then now it's, now we're fighting the heat today. It's getting worse. And then so thankfully the mud is drying out. And I'm thankful for that because I don't want people getting hurt out there and it is extremely dangerous. I would recommend that people, unless you're in very physical shape, please don't come out because it can be very bad with the mud.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Is this still a search and rescue effort?

[Huntley Dantzler]

Yes, it is. I would say it is. We're going to search and we're going to rescue anything that we can, as long as we can. And then I also own a construction company. So when that's done over with, I will be a part of the community building back all the way from the beginning all the way to the end.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

Hunley Dantzler, thank you so much for the work that you're continuing to do down there and for sharing a little bit of your time with us. We are really appreciative.

[Huntley Dantzler]

Thank you.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

All right, everybody, we're going to move on to some headlines. Measles cases in the US are at their highest point in decades. The US has reported 1,277 cases this year, the most since before the disease was declared eliminated back in 2000. After an initial outbreak in West Texas, the virus has now spread to several other states. Two kids and one adult have died, according to the cdc, marking the first US Measles deaths in a decade. All of them were unvaccinated. Meanwhile, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Is being sued by major medical groups who say he's fueling a public health crisis. Last month, he fired the CDC's vaccine panel and scrapped its Covid Shotgardens for children and pregnant women. Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ozempic and Mounjaro may get you into your skinny jeans, but they might also get you into maternity ones. Women on those blockbuster weight loss meds are reporting surprise pregnancies even while on the pill. So what gives? A recent study from the National Institute of Health notes that the drugs like Mounjaro slow digestion, meaning your birth control might not fully absorb, which leaves the door wide open for baby making. Docs in the UK are telling women it's time to double up on birth control, not on bar classes. Bottom line, if you're riding the skinny jab wave, you might want to toss some condoms in your gym bag right next to your protein bars. I can think of worse ways to burn some calories.

[E's Mother]

Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it.

[Huntley Dantzler]

With doom.

[E's Mother]

Cover it in chocolate and.

[Huntley Dantzler]

A miracle or two.

[Yasmin Vesugian]

I bet Willy Wonka is somewhere rejoicing. M&M's are saying artificially fabulous while other candies are going clean by ditching synthetic dyes. Mars, that's the company that makes M&Ms, says its rainbow coated classics are keeping the fake stuff for now. Why? Because natural colors just aren't as vibrant and nobody wants a muted M and M that looks like it's seen some things. Plus, Mars says the current dyes are safe and FDA approved, so why would they mess with candy coated perfection? The company is exploring natural options, but don't expect a turmeric yellow peanut M and M anytime soon. For now, your blue M and M will remain bluer than a Smurf in winter. And that is going to do it for us at here's the scoop from NBC News. I'm Yasmin Vasugin. Tune in tomorrow for whatever the day may bring.

[Charles]

It looked like a pleasant summer day, but was was in fact a spectacular summer day, perfect for lounging and listening to Dateline. Subscribe to Dateline Premium and get a free one month trial ad, free listening, bonus episodes and early access to new original series. This Special offer expires July 30, so subscribe now to Dateline Premium only on Apple Podcasts. You don't want to miss out, do you?